


2031

by just_chiara



Series: Zalex Week [5]
Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Birthday Party, F/M, Future Fic, Gen, M/M, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-08-04 01:48:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16337414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_chiara/pseuds/just_chiara
Summary: It's 2031 and a group of old friends hangs out at a birthday party.





	2031

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Zalex Week - Day 6 - Love at first sight

Lyla has Justin’s eyes and her mother’s smile. She’s wearing a cape and a tiara, because she doesn’t think one should have to choose between being a superhero and a princess. She turns seven today and she’s proud of being the oldest kid at the party. Her cousin is five (five and a half, he would say), the twins only three, and Chloe’s daughters are five and four years old. Tony’s daughter Sara is turning seven in a few weeks, but she’s still six today and that’s what counts.

“Uncle Clay! Uncle Clay!” she calls, running to him with an excited grin on her face. “Mom said we’ll cut the cake soon!”

Justin comes out of the kitchen licking pink frosting off his index finger. Apparently, having a seven-year-old daughter doesn’t make him an adult. Or, at least, not the kind of adult who can resist a bowl of cream cheese frosting. “No, Lyla, Mom said we’ll cut the cake as soon as Grandma and Grandpa get here,” he corrects. He looks at Clay. “When _are_ they getting here, by the way?”

“Soon!” shouts Lyla.

Clay shrugs. “Yeah, soon. Probably.”

One of the twins (is it Will? Clay can never tell for sure) runs by them with Zach following close behind. He runs straight into Justin’s legs – most likely on purpose – and falls backwards to the floor laughing. Zach picks him up. “Have you guys seen Will?” he asks. So the kid squirming in his arms must be George: Clay tries to memorize that George is wearing a red t-shirt today. “Tyler wants to take a group picture of all the kids,” Zach explains.

Justin gives his best friend a look. “He thinks he can manage that?”

“He says we underestimate him. Alex told him he underestimates our kids,” Zach says.

“Speak for your kids, mine’s a princess.” Justin smiles at Lyla.

“ _And_?” Lyla demands.

“And a superhero.”

George is getting antsy and Zach lifts him over his head and to keep him quiet. “Call me after your son is born,” he tells Justin.

Justin shrugs. “If he’s like Lyla, he’s going to sleep through the night after two weeks,” he says.

“Don’t count on it,” Clay warns him, remembering all too well the six months of sleepless nights when Blair was born. He still had it better than Zach and Alex, who have only recently started getting more than five hours of sleep.

“And don’t rub it in,” Zach adds.

Caleb comes into the living room holding a paper cup. “Zach, Alex’s got Will. Tyler wants me to tell you we have ten minutes before the perfect light is gone so you’d better hurry. Oh, and my husband’s messing with the playlist again but you didn’t hear it from me.”

They follow him outside. Sara and Blair are posing for pictures; Alex is trying to talk Tony out of changing the music; Jessica is keeping Will busy by dancing with him.

“This is embarrassing,” Alex says as the music changes and his latest single starts playing.

“You should be used to attention by now, Mr. Gold Record Award,” Justin tells him. “When’s the tour?”

“I’ve got a few gigs coming up,” Alex says. He adjusts his glasses: a nervous habit. “But the tour is postponed until after Zach gets his PhD. Next spring, probably?”

“Most definitely,” promises Zach. “But we’re getting married first. Unless you want to tell my mother we’re pushing the date again.”

Alex leans onto his cane and walks to the table to get himself a drink. “I will if you tell my mother.”

“No deal.” Zach sighs. “We should have eloped before the twins were born.”

“Five minutes till the golden hour is gone,” Tyler warns. He takes a few shots of the birthday girl, then starts getting the older kids into position. For a moment, he thinks he can actually pull it off, but then Sheri and Chloe come outside carrying a three-tier chocolate cake and he loses them all.

He and Jessica exchange a look. As the only ones here who don’t have kids they’re not going to say anything, but they’re both wondering if it’s a good idea to give this already lively group of children a massive dose of sugar.

“Hey, babe. Lainie called,” Sheri tells Justin. “They’re still stuck in traffic. They said to cut the cake and save them a piece.”

Justin gives her a quick kiss on the lips. “Sounds good.”

“Daddy! Daddy!” calls Lyla, pulling at Justin’s t-shirt. It sounds urgent, but he can tell she’s just excited about something. There’s nothing to worry about. She looks up at him. “Daddy, can I ask them? Can I ask Zach and Alex?”

She’s been asking everyone lately. Ever since that Disney movie came out, she’s been obsessed with it. Justin has seen it about a million times already. He would gladly murder whoever created it. “Sure, you can ask them,” Justin says.

Zach and Alex are sitting next to each other, keeping an eye on their sons while they talk with Jessica and Clay. Zach is rubbing his knee: an old basketball injury acting up. Alex takes a sip of his drink, then hands the red cup to Zach.

Lyla stands in front of them, bouncing on her heels. “Was it magical? Was it love at first sight?” she asks them, sing-songing the words like in the Disney movie.

“Yes,” says Zach. He thinks kids should believe in magic.

“No,” says Alex at the same time. He believes in telling children the truth.

They share a look and smile at each other, then Alex explains: “It wasn’t love at first sight, but it was kind of magical.”

Zach nods. “We were lost and we found each other.”

“Like my mom and dad!” Lyla exclaims happily.

Back then, nobody thought that Justin and Sheri would be together for longer than a few months. And yet here they are: almost eight years of marriage, a seven-year-old daughter and a son on the way. Alex and Zach have been through hell and back together, but now things are finally working out for them: they’ve got the twins, Alex’s music career has exploded, and Zach’s thesis is essentially finished. It might not have been love at first sight, but it does look like magic.

Of course, none of their stories look like a fairy-tale. Except, maybe, Clay’s. He went to Australia for a semester abroad, met Kate on his first day and married her a little over a year later.

Justin lights the candles. He can’t believe it’s been seven years already. He overhears Clay and Sheri talk about one of their cases.

“No work talk,” he reminds them. He’s proud of them for expanding the non-profit law firm started by Lainie and Dennis, and he doesn’t mind if they talk about their cases at home. They’re the ones who asked him to stop them when they do.

The children gather around the cake.

Justin looks at his wife and his friends. They’re still here, all of them, still together. They defied all odds. No, it wasn’t a fairy-tale, but they might just be getting their happy ending anyway.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I don't believe in love at first sight, so this is my way of writing around it. (Also, I really _really_ want everyone to get their happy ending.)


End file.
